INTERNET POKER GAINS FOR EUROPEAN OPERATORS
Tuesday July 5, 2011 : It's an ill wind that blows no one any good….
Latest reports from the independent online poker monitor PokerScout indicate that European operators have recently been receiving increased traffic, probably from the embattled Full Tilt Poker.com.
Ladbrokes Poker has reported a 100 percent boost to its player acquisition stats in the period immediately following Alderney's suspension of the Full Tilt licence last week, and PokerStars and Party Poker have both made significant gains
Now PKR.com, which recently launched the new lite version of its 3D software, is also reporting a 32 percent rise, whilst the US-facing Cake Poker Network experienced a 41 percent increase in cash-games activity.
PokerScout reports that some 57 percent of the traffic lost by Full Tilt has already been absorbed by other sites over the past week, with the following sites benefitting since Full Tilt was compelled to shut down:
PokerStars +15 percent
Party Poker +23 percent
iPoker Network +13 percent
888 Poker +16 percent
Microgaming Poker Network +7 percent
Entraction Network +7 percent
International Poker Network (IPN) +20 percent
Cake Poker Network +41 percent
Bodog +3 percent
PKR +32 percent
Industry-wide, the year-on-year picture for internet poker is less than bright, with PokerScout reporting that the total worldwide online poker market has suffered substantially since the enforcement action on April 15, with online poker traffic (excluding the dedicated systems in France and Italy) down by 27 percent overall.
Year-over-year changes include the following traffic increases and declines, according to PokerScout numbers:
The good news first – these operators have shown notable year-on-year gains:
Merge Gaming Network up 113 percent
888 Poker up 107 percent
Bodog up 39 percent
Not so fortunate are:
Full Tilt Poker currently down 100 percent
Cereus Network down 95 percent
International Poker Network (IPN) down 41 percent
PokerStars down 17 percent
